


He trades obedience for love (so I'l break every rule)

by DearLittleRobin



Series: the differences don't make them less broken. (or less fixable) [1]
Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: A Bit of Fluff, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Manipulation, Everyone Needs A Hug, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Klaus Hargreeves Needs A Hug, Reginald Hargreeves' A+ Parenting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-15
Updated: 2019-03-15
Packaged: 2019-11-18 07:29:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 16,087
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18116141
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DearLittleRobin/pseuds/DearLittleRobin
Summary: Sir Reginald rewarded a job well done with affection, and it changedeverything(He's still an asshole, though)





	He trades obedience for love (so I'l break every rule)

**Author's Note:**

> I don't really know what the hell this is, but I hope you enjoy it!

Allison only saw them for a bit longer than a second, but the image seemed to burn itself inside her mind. Once inside the car that would take them all back to the Academy, she even tried to see them again, turning her body to look through the back window.

“What are you looking for, Alli?” Luther asked her, concerned. Upon seeing the scowling face of his Father on the rearview mirror, he gently nudged her to sit properly again. Allison complied, but her eyes still seemed lost, even behind the domino mask. “What did you see, Alli?” Luther asked her once more, although his voice now wasn’t louder than a whisper.

“You know the kid that was in the bank? The one who wouldn’t stop crying for his mother?” She whispered back at him. Luther nodded. “I saw his mother hug him after we freed him and the other hostages.”

Luther frowned.

“Really?” He asked.

“Yes!” She nodded “And I think she even kissed his forehead! How can she act like that when he did nothing but cry? It’s not like he deserved it.”

Luther nodded, face scrunched up in confusion. It really didn’t make any sense.

“I think she just didn’t know what happened inside.” He reasoned “She’ll probably act accordingly when he reports to her.”

Allison hummed, the explanation sounded reasonable enough, and let her head fall on Luther’s shoulder. She watched the rest of her siblings, all of them totally unaware of the conversation she and Luther just had. Diego was quietly cleaning the knifes he had used while Klaus tried his best to clean Ben’s bloody face with some tissues and a water bottle. Five seemed to dread every second of being in the car (Allison knew he was mad that Father prohibited him from just popping back to the Academy when the missions were done) but he kept a quiet conversation with Vanya anyway.

“I’m sure Father will hug you after we arrive today” Luther whispered to her “You did a very good job”

Allison smiled and answered with a weak squeeze on Luther’s arm. She hoped Luther would get hugged too, even though she knew that was unlikely: Father only hugged two of them after missions, and Vanya had been more useful than Luther on that day.

Silently, she promised she would hug Luther herself before they were sent to bed that day. He, at least for Allison, deserved it.

(And he deserved it way more than that stupid crying kid with his stupid mother)

It wasn’t a surprise for anyone when Vanya was, indeed, one of the lucky two to receive The Hug from Sir Reginald Hargreeves. She seemed to always be one of the lucky two these days and as much as Allison tried to feel happy for her sister, she couldn’t help the cold jealousy that took hold of her insides whenever it happened. She also knew she wasn’t the only one to feel that way, if Klaus’ dark look was anything to go by (He had more reasons to be jealous than she did, Allison thought to herself, since Klaus was the only one who had never been hugged after a mission).

“You acted perfectly, Number Seven. Used your powers with expertise, making sure to handle the threat without causing much damage to the property” Sir Reginald said, voice loud and clear, when the four seconds were up and the hug was finished “You may go to your room to get ready for dinner”

“Thank you, Father” Vanya smiled at him and went.

Sir Reginald looked at her go for only a moment before turning to the rest of his children. He studied each of them carefully, taking in their appearances and facial expressions, as if the slightest move could change his decision. It felt like hours, but only a few seconds passed before Sir Reginald’s eyes finally stopped on Allison.

“Number Three” He called “Please step ahead”

She did as she was told and was soon wrapped around a firm embrace for the four seconds she had the right to. It wasn’t, by any means, a long hug (Those were reserved for big improvements in training only, and even then, they didn’t last longer than 8 seconds), but Allison made sure not to waste any of it. When he let go, he turned to look a her again.

“Number Three” Her Father began “You smartly identified and rumored the leader of the operation, assuring the safety of the hostages for long enough for the rest of your siblings to incapacitate the other men. You also protected them, even when they made stupid, amateur mistakes” She didn’t miss the glare the man sent Klaus. “I’m proud of your quick thinking, Number Three. You may go to your room to get ready for dinner”

“Thank you, Father” Allison nodded at the man, and made her way up the stairs.

She only turned around once, just to catch Luther’s eyes and give him an encouraging smile. Allison knew Sir Reginald wouldn’t keep him, Diego or Five for long, since their performances that day were, although not amazing, up to the standards. Klaus and Ben would probably hear a lecture or two, however.

Ben because of how bloody he managed to get himself and everything else around him regardless of Father’s efforts into training small Number Six to control the monsters inside him to not make such a mess (Sometimes, Allison wondered if that was why Father didn’t hug him as often as he did the others. The only three times Ben was on the receiving end of The Hug  _had_  been when he managed to come back from the mission as clean as when he left) and Klaus because he was, well,  _Klaus._ Number Four’s powers were not that were not that useful on that specific mission, everyone knew that, but Father still seemed to get unbelievably angry at the boy when he put no effort whatsoever into it. For Klaus, the lecture would probably be a replay of the same one he got so used to hearing after basically every mission: you are not using the full extent of your powers. (Allison was not sure how much Klaus could help by being able to talk to dead people, but maybe Father knew something she didn’t)

Once the girl reached the top of the stairs, she stopped walking. She didn’t have to wait long for Luther to appear. Diego was right behind him, but the boy didn’t pay them any mind and slipped inside his room quite quickly.

“How was it?” Allison asked Luther, as they both made their way to their rooms.

“He told me he was satisfied with my leadership today” Luther reported quickly.

Allison hummed and nudged him affectionally.

“That’s good” She told him. Luther shrugged.

“Not good enough” He answered and Allison couldn’t help but roll her eyes at him.

“Here” She said, rather impatiently, and wrapped the boy in a hug. It didn’t last as long as Allison wanted it too, but they couldn’t afford to be late for dinner ( it took time to wash and dry her hair, ok?) “Now you’ve been praised and hugged.” She let go and looked up at the boy “Happier now?”

Luther just stared at her, dumbfound, for a feel seconds before he finally opened one of his shy smiles. (Allison specially loved those. When Luther smiled like that, he finally seemed his age, finally seemed relaxed)

“Yeah” He breathed out “Thanks, Alli”

She smiled back and, standing on her tiptoes, gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.

“See you at dinner” Allison told him and entered her room before Luther was able to say anything else.

Luther was left alone in front of the closed door, cheek burning up. He raised a hesitant hand to gently brush against the spot but stopped himself halfway. He shouldn’t do that. He knew he shouldn’t.

Love was a complicated feeling for him: it brought up more questions than answers. He  _was_  sure of somethings however.

Luther knew he loved his Father, for example.

Sure, he was aware of the fact that the man was not the most caring, but he was also aware of how that same man seemed to always have something positive to tell him after missions, even if he wasn’t one of the two who got The Hug.

Luther was Number One, for Christs sake! That had to mean something, didn’t it? The numbers couldn’t just be random. It wouldn’t make sense for a man as meticulous as Reginald Hargreeves.

(Luther did not like entertaining the thought of his position being nothing more than a mere coincidence. It made him feel bad things, things he wanted to avoid)

No one ever said it out loud (he didn’t anyone would ever dare to. Maybe Five, if he was pissed off enough), but Luther knew his powers were not that, well, powerful. He was super strong, yeah, but that was basically it. What importance super strength had in a house with people who could bend reality at will? Luther was sure his Father knew how weak he was when compared to his siblings (With maybe the exception of Klaus, but only because of the lack of practical use for Number Four’s abilities on most missions.).

Still, his Father didn’t skip a day of his training, so, in each new session, Luther tried his hardest to do better, even if just for a bit. Maybe he could lift something just a bit heavier, hold the heavy weights on his shoulders for just a bit longer, push himself just a bit more so there was the constant improvement his Father loved so much.

“Great job, Number One” Father would say each time he succeeded and then he would briefly touch his shoulder to give it a gentle squeeze.

Yeah, maybe his powers were not the best between all the amazing things his siblings could do, but he was trying his best and Father appreciated that. It, for the meanwhile, was enough.

Then, of course, there was also Allison. Beautiful, smart, just simply amazing Allison that could make the most powerful man drop on his knees for her with a couple of words and could also achieve just the same result with Luther with a single smile.

The same way he knew he loved his Father, Luther knew he loved Allison too. When he sat down to think about it, however, he realized it didn’t quite feel like the same type of love. Thinking about his other siblings, he felt quite the same as when he thought about his Father, just on different degrees and intensities. When he thought about Allison though, it was all different, a difference he couldn’t quite explain.  

It puzzled him, to say the least. How could he call two completely different sensations by the same name? Was he wrong on thinking what felt was love? 

Sometimes, especially on the moments he and Allison shared without anyone else, Luther felt the urge to ask her. Allison always seemed to know everything regarding feelings and whatnot, it made sense she would be able to clarify his doubts. Whenever he opened his mouth to ask, though, another sudden urge took hold and the words that once were ready to jump out of his mouth were quickly drawn back in.

It honestly made Luther’s head hurt.

(“Mother” Luther asked one day. He was alone with her, reading a book or, at least ,pretending to do so, on the basement table as she washed the dishes. Allison and Vanya were choosing their outfits for the next fancy Umbrella Academy event, Diego was training with Five and Klaus was with Ben doing God knew what. It felt lonely to be the only one without an immediate purpose, so Number One made his way downstairs to where he knew his Mother would be. “Can I ask you a question?”

“Of course, dear” His Mother answered quickly, still focused on the dirty dishes in front of her.

Luther closed the book  and pondered how he could phrase the question without selling himself out. Mother was, after all, a very intelligent... woman? Robot? Android? He didn’t want to think too much about it honestly. It wasn't the point anyway.

“What do you think love is?” Luther chose to say. He made an special effort to speak his words slowly, as clearly as possible, making sure to enunciate every syllable perfectly.

Mother didn't answer as quickly as she usually did when they asked her a question. Luther wasn't looking at her, but had heard the faucet being turned off and his Mother’s pointy heels taping the ground below her feet as she walked closer to him.

“Is something bothering you, Luther?” She asked, voice as kind as her smiles.

Luther was not a very good liar. He could do it if the mission required it, but in his everyday life lying was not an activity he took part in much. So, when his Mother asked him with that sweet, inviting voice of hers what the problem was, he couldn’t not tell her everything.

Well,  _almost_ everything

“I know I love you and Father, and I know I love my brothers and sisters” Luther began cautiously. He tapped his foot against the floor in an erratic pattern, hoping the movement would take out the crippling anxiety he felt building up inside himself. “But there is this…person.” He continued “A person that I find very special and that I also love very much.” Luther gripped the wooden stool he sat on, feeling the material break with the pressure. “ But it’s not the same. It doesn’t feel the same. I don’t love her like I love you and Father.” He turned to his Mother. Her expression was unchanged: lips curved into an easy smile and eyes eager to help. “What does it mean. Mother?”

Grace Hargreeves gently touched her son’s cheek. It was something Allison did a lot too, but his Mother’s touch didn’t send a buzz through his skin, didn’t make the area hot for hours on end, didn’t make Luther want to gently touch the spot and smile with content.

“It means you’re in love, my boy.” His Mother whispered to him like a secret. )

Now, already inside his room and with a spot on his cheek still burning up, Luther didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

 Coincidentally, at that same moment, Ben also felt like crying. His motives, however, were far from Luther’s in every shape and form.

If being covered in blood was not bad enough on itself, hearing his Father complain about it as if  _he_  was the one suffering in the situation made everything ten times worse.

“We have spoken about this, Number Six.” Sir Reginald said in his Disappointed VoiceTM , as Klaus liked to call it “Do you understand how you, covered in blood from head to toe, makes us look in front of the press?”

 _Fuck the press,_ was what Ben wanted to say. It was what Ben would say, if he had the courage to do so ( _If you had any balls, you’d probably have told the old man to fuck off a long time ago,_ Klaus had said to him once. Ben sometimes caught himself imagining if his life would be any better if he was that brave)

Ben, however, was not brave. So he just listened to his Father’s complaints with his head down, staring at his blood covered shoes and wishing for it all to be over so he could go upstairs and take a shower (Klaus had made a decent job at cleaning the blood on his face, but his hair was still a total mess and he hated the smell so, so, so much)

His Father’s lectures didn’t usually last long, but he seemed to be especially angry that day. Apparently, the fact that some newspaper photographer managed to get a photo of him was the equivalently of a catastrophe the size of a house, and his Father could not stop himself form repeating how disappointed he was in Ben over and over again

It had gotten to the point where Ben started to feel dizzy, the strong smell of blood and the way it seemed to cling to his body too much for him to handle. He silently wondered if he was at risk of throwing up and whished with all his strength that, even if he felt the food and bile raising to his throat, he would not succumb to the urge. Sir Reginald was already angry enough as it was.

Ben had already accepted his fate when round 13 of “I’m Very Disappointed In You, Ben, And Here’s Why:” was suddenly interrupted by a new voice making itself heard.

“We get it, father. You don’t like it when things get messy, yeah, neither does Ben and, newsflash for you, he hasn’t complained a third as much as you just did!”

 He should have seen it coming, Ben thought to himself, he should have known.

Because where Ben lacked the courage to stand up to their Father, Klaus had enough to make situations like that one dangerous.

“Number Six” Sir Reginald said, voice ice cold and eyes fixed on Klaus. “You may go to your room to get ready for dinner”

And again, if Ben was brave, he would’ve stood up for Klaus like the other boy did for him, he would have screamed at their Father and maybe, if he was angry enough, would have used his powers to make himself look more threatening.

However, Number Six, as established before, was not brave. So, he just nodded and quietly made his way up the stairs. And maybe Ben closed his bedroom door with more force than necessary, but who could blame him really? He just wanted to let the hot water wash away all the blood that tainted his skin so he could focus all his energies on wishing Klaus’ fate was not so bad. Maybe his Father would take pity on him since the mission had been a success regardless of Klaus’ actions.

He kept holding onto that thought, eyes closed and hands trembling, until his mother’s familiar voice took him out of his trance.

“Ben, darling” She called from the door “Dinner is ready”

He tried not notice the way she skipped Klaus’ door and hurried out of the room. When he arrived, Father was already there, seated in front of his empty plate and reading the newspaper from the day before.

“Number Six” He greeted, eyes still glued to the paper. “Please have a sit”

Dinners in the Academy were serious affairs, they were all very aware of the fact, so Ben chose his seat and sat in silence as he waited for the others. Vanya, as usual, was the next to appear.

“Number Seven” Father greeted and, this time,  his eyes left the paper for half a second. “Have a seat”

"Yes, Father" She answered. 

(Vanya vividly remembered the day her Father pulled her aside on training to talk about her powers. She had just had a shouting match with Luther about something or other (it was stupid anyway) that ended with the boy being thrown across the room, face first into a wall.

It had been an accident (it really had) and even though her siblings probably believed her when she screamed that, they hadn’t let her get near Luther as Allison rumored him not to feel the excruciating pain and Five popped to go get Mother. It was then, when all Hargreeves children stood worriedly around Number One, that Sir Reginald put a hand on her shoulder and guided her out of the room.

“Your powers obey your emotions, Number Seven” He had told her that day “So you either control them or they’ll control you”

Vanya sometimes wondered if that was the reason Father gave her one of The Hugs so often. Was he afraid she would lose control or was she truly just a good hero? Either way, it still felt good to humor the idea of her Father truly liking her. Vanya saw the way the others looked at her, the various degrees of envy in their eyes. To know her Father favored her made her happy, even if she felt kind of bad for it.)

Allison was the next to appear (“Number Three. Please have a sit), choosing her usual sit next to Vanya and also waiting in silence for the others. They didn’t have to wait much, they never had, to Luther (“Number One”) and Diego (“Number Two”) to appear. Five popped next to his seat not long after the other three boys made their way downstairs.

“And lastly, Number Five” Sir Reginald put the Newspaper down, carefully folding and placing it on Grace’s awaiting hands. He turned to their Mother. “You may serve the dinner” 

No one commented on Klaus’ absence, although Vanya could see the others eyeing the empty chair next to Ben with confused eyes. She made a mental note to ask Ben about it after dinner, since they all knew that table was no place for conversations (Father had gotten really mad when Luther and Allison tried)

The Hargreeves ate in silence, nothing but the sound of silverware against porcelain, chewing and swallowing. When Vanya finished her plate (she was usually the first one to do so since she never really ate much), she patiently waited for each of her siblings to do so as well. It was a training of her patience, in all honesty, so Vanya gently tapped her fingers against the fine wood table, creating the craziest patterns she could come up with, to try to battle the boredom. 

Sir Reginald Hargreeves ate painfully slowly, so when he finally finished eating, the last child to had finished their plate (usually Luther) had already been waiting for a few minutes. The man calmly brought the napkin to his face, wiping the small crumbs of food that had made their way to the corner of his mouth and sipped the fine wine on his crystal glass before speaking.

“Training tomorrow will begin at eight, as usual. I want everyone on time, not a minute before or after. Am I clear?” The small chorus of ‘Yes, Father’s made the man nod approvingly. “Good. You are all dismissed. Have a good night of sleep”

Ben was the first to stand (if you didn’t count Five popping directly to his room as soon as Sir Reginald finished speaking) and Vanya’s chair made a very unpleasant noise as she abruptly got up to keep up with the boy. She cringed, and risked a side look at Father. Thankfully, he seemed unbothered. Good.

“Ben!” Vanya called (careful not to speak too loudly, Father didn’t like them shouting) as she speed walked (careful not to run, Father didn’t like them running inside the house) towards the boy. “Wait up”

Ben, bless his soul, did wait, so Vanya didn’t have to risk anything else. They met at the bottom of the stairs, Allison and Luther already making their way to their respective rooms. Diego, though, stopped by their side. They both turned to look at him.

“Do you know where Klaus is?” He asked Ben, totally ignoring Vanya’s presence.

“He and Father had a…disagreement. Earlier.” Ben told him. “I don’t know where Father took him, though”

Diego hummed, taking in the information.

“Guess we’ll ask him on training tomorrow” He told Ben. The other boy shrugged.

“Guess so” He answered.

With a nod, Diego also made his way up the stairs, leaving Vanya and Ben alone again.

“I was actually going to ask you the same thing” Vanya admitted, a bit disappointed at her brother’s lack of knowledge of Klaus’ whereabouts. “But I guess we’re all on the same boat here.”

Ben shrugged again.

“Sorry, Vanya” He told her honestly “I wish I knew where Klaus is, too. Father seemed very angry at him so I’m a bit worried”

“Don’t worry too much” Vanya told him with a gentle smile “Father wouldn’t do anything too bad”

Ben nodded and turned his back to her. She may have imagined it, but Vanya was almost sure she heard him murmur “Easy for you to say”

Moments later, when she was already under her covers, she wondered what he had meant by that.

“Good night, Vanya” Her Mother told her from the door, and, unlike other nights, the girl didn’t answer.

Grace didn’t do anything about it though. She tended not to. Instead, she just walked to the last room she would enter that night, softly knocking on the door before opening it.

Diego, sat on his bed with a smile on his face, turned to her immediately. She approached him easily, wrapping the boy on her arms as she did every night and whispering her good night wishes on his ear.

Diego would never tell a soul, but he much preferred his Mother’s hugs to his Father’s. It was a secret, firstly because he knew that if he’d ever said that his Father would never hug him again and secondly because no one else knew that Mother hugged him.

It had all started when Sir Reginald gave up on him and his stutter ( _If you are unable to speak coherently, you may refrain from speaking at all!,_ The man had shouted at him when he, once again, had failed to report weekly report without getting stuck on some words) and Mother, secretly, had taken over. They practiced together when they were both supposed to be sleeping (well, entering stasis mode on Mother’s case) and every time he managed to deliver a full phrase without any stutter, she would hug him tightly and congratulate him on a job well done.

Mother’s hugs could be quick (sometimes lasting less time that Father’s) or last a lifetime (He vividly remembered the night right after the day in which he broke his arm on mission, how instead of practicing his Mother had just held him, gently stroking his hair, until he fell asleep). It didn’t matter how long they lasted, because Mother’s hugs lacked the rules Father’s hugs were drowned in. Mother hugs were just acts of love.

That’s why every day, after dinner was over and everyone went back to their bedrooms, Mother left his room last on her night round to say good night so she could slip in and give him a quick hug of good night.

“Sleep well, Diego” She would whisper to him and hug him just a tad bit tighter.

It was around the time when the night lessons with his Mother began that Diego stopped feeling so jealous of Vanya. Who cared if his Father liked his sister more? Diego had Mother all to himself. Who needed timed out hugs and emotionless praising? Certainty not Diego.

On the one hand, it felt good to have something to call his own (He even shared his birthday with his six other siblings!) and it also felt good to know Mother thought him to be special or, at least, special enough to deserve her love and attention like that. On the other hand, however, Diego couldn’t help but feel a bit guilty for keeping it all to himself. He knew how much his siblings need affection sometimes (He’s seen how disappointed Luther looks when he’s not one of the two to receive The Hug, or how Klaus wraps his own arms around himself from time to time. Even Five, who’s so keen on making it known that he doesn’t care for all of this ‘affection bullshit’, his words not Diego’s, sometimes seemed to long for a touch) And sure, they had each other (Luther has Allison and Klaus has Ben and Five has Vanya), but Diego knew it wasn’t the same. For example, Klaus’ hugs were good, but he wouldn’t trade them for Mother’s.

So maybe his siblings deserved that piece of heaven too, Diego reasoned, maybe he should ask Mother to hug all of them instead of just him, maybe he should share the hugs.

 _Not today, though_ , Diego thought to himself as Mother left the room,  _Not today._

People didn’t need hugs to survive, Diego knew that, remembered Five telling him such a few years before. It had been a weird year, that one, because when Five reached that wonderful age of ten, he suddenly decided he was tired of his Father’s games.

 It was never a fair trade, the boy had realized, blind obedience for what? Praise? A hug?  One “I’m proud of you, Number Something” speech? He wasn’t that cheap.

Five remembered being hit with said realization and immediately trying to pass the knowledge to Vanya, only to have her sister scoff at him and say, “I think you just haven’t been hugged enough” (Sure, maybe she had a bit of a point. Father’s hugs may have been a bit awkward, but they still felt…nice. Kinda. Whatever.)

So, ten years old and feeling ready to face the world, Five decided he wouldn’t obey anymore. Why should he? It’s not like he needed hugs and praise to survive. Also! Klaus was never given any of the rewards (not since the day he first discovered his powers) and he seemed to be doing well enough.

It was at the tender age of twelve and a half that Five made another realization: Sir Reginald Hargreeves was a dangerous man.

Five wasn’t actively going against the man, per say, he was just disregarding his orders more often than not. If his father told him not to pop directly back to the Academy after a mission, he would just pretend to not have listened. He would also not wait for his father to excuse them before leaving the dinner table. Small stuff, you see? Nothing too bad.

Still, and Five would soon learn that, it was enough to make Reginald Hargreeves mad.

“We’ll make individual training sessions today” Sir Reginald had told his children and Five found himself looking forward to his turn.

He had been speaking to his father about the possibility of his powers allowing him to not only travel through space, but also through time. It had been an interesting discussion and Five was sure his father would tackle the matter in their session that day.

That way, when it was finally his turn and Sir Reginald came to bring him to a room he had never been at the west wing of the Academy, he was excited when he should have been scared.

“I’ve studied your power a lot, Number Five, while making the calculations to make your time travelling theories feasible.” Sir Reginald had told him over a cup of tea. Thy had at facing each other on comfortable looking couches that were really not that comfortable.

“And have you found anything?” Five had asked eagerly.

“Oh yes” Sir Reginald had answered, taking a sip of his tea and carefully placing the now empty tea-cup on the table in front of him. “I believe I have reached almost full understanding of your ability. Including its limitations.”

Five had frowned at his father.

“What does that mean?”

“It means, Number five” Reginald had begun, and his tone made a bad shiver run down Five’s spine “That I control you way more efficiently now.”

Before that day, Five had never thought of himself as stupid. Sure, he made mistakes sometimes, everyone did, but he never did something truly dumb. But on that moment, seeing his Father use what Five had assumed was research towards their common goal of allowing Five to time travel as a way to control the boy into submission, Five had never felt stupider.

“You can’t pop out of this room, Number Five, so don’t bother trying. If you ever disobey me again, I’ll make sure you are sent right back to this place.” His Father had said nonchalantly, getting up and walking towards the door. Before leaving, he had turned back to Five. “I’ll leave you here for a while so you can properly reflect on your actions”

A “while” had meant full twenty-four hours and the room’s ability to numb Five’s power was not a bluff, as the boy had originally hoped for.

Needless to say, Five did not disobey Father again after that. He didn’t actively try to win his praise either, but he did as he was told.

“Gave up on the rebel style, did you?” Vanya had teased him one day, a week or so after he started obeying Father again.

“I’m leaving it all to Klaus” He had answered her with a scoff.

Briefly, he had wondered how Klaus managed to do it so well, and that misconception had gone into the not very large list of things Five was terribly wrong about because, ha, fun fact:  Klaus was doing anything but well.

While the Séance had, indeed, grown used to fear he had not, however, turned fearless.

Ghosts still gave him the creeps, he still hated them with a burning passion and he still couldn’t handle being in the mausoleum for more than a minute.

 Klaus hated the feeling of helplessness that being in the mausoleum brought almost as much as he hated his father.

Years before, he had cried at night, questioning the universe above him as to why he had been cursed with such a terrible power (seeing dead people was  _not_ cool, no matter what anyone said) and a Father that was incapable of loving him. Why wasn’t he like any of his siblings? Why? Why?  _Why?_

In the present, though, Klaus didn’t question it anymore. He accepted his place as the family’s outcast, the one his father would never love. Klaus liked to think he had come to terms with his situation, that he didn’t even care, but every time he felt the familiar pang of jealousy when he saw one of his siblings get The Hug or any form of praise, he was reminded of how untrue that was.

That’s why he tried his best not to think about it so much. Just avoid the problem until it stopped feeling like a problem. Simple as that.

(Not that simple. Not even close)

The Umbrella Academy was a place filled up with rules and Klaus, being the resident rebel, had to make his efforts to break them. That’s why he was screaming his throat raw then, because his father didn’t like screaming. It had nothing to do with the hundreds (thousands? It surely felt like millions) of decaying, translucent corpses calling, moaning and screaming his name. 

“Leave me alone!” He shouted for what seemed to be the millionth time (he could feel his voice getting weaker) “Go away!”

Ghosts surely were stubborn. That Klaus could tell you. It didn’t matter how much he begged, screamed, cried or whimpered, they all refused to go away.

 _When I die,_ Klaus thought to himself,  _I’ll be a kinder ghost._ (It wasn’t like there would be someone like him for ghost-Klaus to go bother, but the thought that counted right?)

The moment he had opened his mouth, Klaus knew Sir Reginald would make him pay. It was in the way the man’s eyes looked, the shine of anger and cruelty emanating from them. Klaus wanted to think it was worth it, even as he clawed his hands over his ears, feeling his nails make small wounds on his scalp. Ben hated being covered in blood, he had told Klaus as much on multiple occasions, and father would have probably kept on repeating the same bullshit speech about disappointment and whatnot until Ben threw up on the spot. Yeah, saving his brother was kinda worth it (Even if he knew Ben wouldn’t ever do something like that for him.)

"Please go away" Klaus whimpered. 

It didn't make a difference. 

Time didn’t really exist inside the mausoleum, the only light source was the ghosts' pale glow. It was just constantly dark and loud (ghosts didn’t get raw throats, Klaus had found out on the first time his father brought him to that place, they didn’t get tired or thirsty or hungry or anything. They just  _screamed_ ). Thus, when the door finally opened again, minutes, hours or even days could have passed. Klaus wouldn’t know.

Number Four hated being weak in front of father, but he hated the screams more than he valued his pride, so he wasted no time before running out that cursed place, all heavy breaths and trembling hands.

“I hope you learnt your lesson, Number Four” His father told him coldly, eyeing him from above like he was the scum of the earth. “Let’s hope we don’t need to make anymore trips to this place. It ruins my schedule.”

Klaus managed to chuckle. Of course, of course the old bastard would only be worried about his fucking  _schedule_ of all things. God, Klaus hated everything.

“Now come on, Number Four.” Sir Reginald called, already a few steps ahead of Klaus “Pogo won’t wait”

Klaus hated the feeling of helplessness that being in the mausoleum brought almost as much as he hated his father.  _Almost._ (Maybe the only thing he hated more than the old man was the fact he was stuck with a power like seeing fucking dead people when he could’ve had something like being super strong)

“Coming” He whispered, voice too weak to speak any louder.

Not that father cared anyway. The old man only loved them as tools and if there was one thing Klaus was determined to do, it was not to let himself become one. 

“Hurry up, Number Four” His father called again.

The car ride back home was, thankfully, quiet (One good thing about angry ghosts was that they usually weren’t aware of the fact that they could leave their body’s side if they just put a little effort into it). Klaus pressed his head against the cold window, his arms around himself in a failed attempt of comfort. The streets passed in that almost blur Klaus was so used too.

“Go straight to your room, Number Four.” Sir Reginald told him when the car finally came to a stop.

The man took no time to get out of the vehicle, soon followed by Pogo. Klaus, on the other hand, waited a few moments, breathing hard to try to regain a bit of his composure. He assumed he had spent a little more than seven hours locked away, judging by his stomach’s grumble and the light color on the sky, as if the sun was about to rise at any moment.

Klaus briefly wondered if stopping by the kitchen was worth the likely punishment he would receive for disobeying father’s direct orders. The vivid memory of screaming corpses made him decided against it.

“You’re good, Klaus” Klaus whispered to himself. He brought one hand up and gently caressed the side of his face as his other hand hugged himself tighter. “You’re good”

(Lying had always been one of Klaus’ talents)

Truth was, Number Four felt wrecked. His knees were still trembling, his hands were still shaking and he was still hyperventilating no matter how focused on his breathing he got. Klaus was actually considering just sleeping on the car when a gentle knock to the window he was pressed against called his attention. He stared outside and the familiar figure of Pogo stared back. 

Differently from how his father would have done it, Pogo waited for Klaus to stop leaning on the door to pull it open. Small blessings, Klaus guessed, Thank the skies not everyone in the family was a sadistic prick.

“Master Klaus, we must go to your room” Pogo told him, gently but firmly.

“I don’t know if I can walk” Klaus admitted. Pogo nodded.

“That’s what I’m here for, Master Klaus” Pogo told him and Klaus almost cracked a smile. Pogo extended his hand. “Ready?”

 Klaus took it.

Stairs were a bitch, but, with more effort than Klaus would have liked, they managed. Soon enough, Klaus was unceremoniously throwing himself at his bed.

“Thank you, Pogo” He tried to say even though his voice was almost completely muffled by the pillow he was pressing his face against. If the gentle hand on his shoulder was anything to go by, Pogo had heard him clearly enough.

Footsteps got further away from Klaus’ bed, the bedroom door was closed and the room was consumed in darkness safe from the digital clock on his bedside table. The numbers 5:58 stared at him. He stared back at them. They didn’t change (or blink), so Klaus gave up on their staring contest pretty quickly.

“Good night to me” He whispered to himself and let his eyes fall shut.

(If the first thing he after closing his eyelids was the mutilated corpse of a middle aged woman screaming bloody murder, it was nobodies business but his own.)

Sleep came like a punch and knocked him out nicely enough. His Mother’s voice asking him to wake up came like a punch too, but that time it wasn’t that well received. Klaus got up, regretted his existence and started to change into the usual clothes he wore for training. It was ironic as hell, but he had to admit it: he felt like death.

As he leaned on the wall beside Ben’s closed door, he saw a couple of ghosts walk around the house. They were quiet, most of the time, just looking at the paintings on the walls and expensive ornaments with curious eyes. Klaus was very careful not to make eye contact with any of those or, if he did make it, pretend he was looking at something else beyond the pale dead figures. It was almost like a game, although not a fun one.

Vanya passed by and threw him a quick smile. She didn’t stop walking though, always adamant about being on time for everything.  Diego looked at him too, when he left his room, but instead of a smile, he received a quick nod. Allison and Luther were too engrossed in their own little private conversations to acknowledge his presence. Nothing out of the usual morning routine.

Ben’s door opened suddenly, and Klaus turned to greet his brother with a tired smile. Ben, at first, seemed surprise to see Klaus there at all, but he was quick to return the smile, even going as far as offering Klaus a quick hand squeeze.

“I didn’t know if I would see you today” Ben admitted as they both walked to the kitchen, where Grace was sure to be making their breakfast “Father seemed quite mad”

“He was” Klaus agreed, neither of them impressed by how cold his voice seemed. “But I guess not  _that_  mad if he let me out enough to sleep a bit”

Ben hummed but didn’t ask any further questions. They never talked too much about it (Ben because he didn’t want to feel the burn of guilt in his throat and Klaus because Ben didn’t ask.). The kitchen was already smelling like pancakes when they got there and went to sit down on the already full table.

“Did you children have a good night of sleep?” Grace asked as she flipped the perfectly shaped pancakes on the pan.

“Yeah” Diego smiled.

“Yes” Vanya nodded.

“Sure” Five shrugged.  

Allison and Luther just hummed, quick to turn back to their conversation. Klaus preferred to keep quiet, Ben followed his suit. Grace turned to them for a quick second but, upon looking at their matching serious faces, decided it was no good to ask. Klaus could have honestly sighed in relief, but he didn’t.

He stared at his empty plate, fingers drumming a random pattern on his thigh as he rested his head on the other unoccupied hand. On good days, he would have been excitedly chatting with Ben as they waited for Grace to finish cooking, sometimes even forcing Diego into the conversation (Number Two liked to wait by throwing toothpicks at the wall. He was weird like that). That day was not a good day though, so Klaus didn’t have much to talk about. There was also a very gross dead body chilling in the corner for some reason and Klaus  _really_  didn’t want to think about that.

“Here you go!” Grace told them all, one of her happy smiles decorating her pretty face. If Klaus didn’t know any better, he would have said she was made out of porcelain.

 She carefully placed two plates full of pancakes in front of the hungry children. It wasn’t long before the food was finished, and they were all leaving to get to training on time.

“Thanks for the food, Mother” Diego said, giving the woman a quick kiss on the cheek before they left the kitchen.

Klaus hated the cold jealousy that plagued his mind at the sight. Father had never been especially fond of Diego (the old man thought of him as too impulsive and reckless. The stutter didn’t help one bit.) and for a while he, Klaus and Ben had that to bond over. Three little kids that weren’t given enough love. But then, out of seemingly nowhere, Diego developed a bond with Mother like none of them had and small Number Two stopped quietly sobbing on Klaus’ shoulder on the bad nights. (He also stopped hanging out with him and Ben ad often, but Klaus tried not too think too much about that).Diego got better, anyone could tell. He would smile more often and his stutter was practically non-existent. Diego even improved his relationship with Luther, now that he wasn’t so keen on winning Reginald’s affections.

Yet, and he wasn’t proud of that, Klaus still couldn’t feel that happy for his brother. He mostly felt pain, fueled by the sensation of betrayal he knew he had no right of feeling. They were all trying to cope, Diego just go lucky. Klaus knew that. It still hurt. (Because if their robot mother could really love like a human, why didn’t she love Klaus too?)

Training went like it did most days. Luther and Vanya were constantly praised as they worked with their heavy weights (lifting them, stacking them up, stacking them down, throwing them at each other to see if they could stop it before they got hurt), Allison was thrown into experimentation (Could she rumor animated objects of specific materials? Could she create matter? Could she heal wounds? What were the limits?), Five worked on his agility (Jumping from high platforms and teleporting fast enough not to hit the ground, throwing something across the room and teleporting to catch it), Diego tried to hit the smallest targets Reginald could provide in a hundred different situations (Could he do it while underwater? While falling? While climbing?), Ben stayed in a separate room (Trying to keep control of the monsters, he had once told Klaus, trying to make them do more than ripping people to shreds) and Klaus sat in a corner talking to the wall and pretending it was a ghost.

It was a bit ridiculous, Klaus had to admit, talking to a literal empty space. It made him understand the reaction his siblings had to his ghost thing a bit better. Father had him write down information about whoever it is he was talking to and either Klaus just put the information he managed to get from some of Reginald’s old newspapers or he gave the man some bullshit excuse about the ghost not remembering its name.

He could be talking to real ghosts, Klaus knew he could, in fact there was a real, very much dead ghost wondering around the training room at that exact moment. There was no way in hell that he would show the ghosts inside the house that he could talk to them though. It was the only peace of mind he managed to have with how often his father liked to lock him up with screaming floating corpses.

“So you were a teacher, then?” Klaus asked the wall. It, unsurprisingly, didn’t answer. Klaus hummed and wrote down ‘teacher’ below the random physical appearance he had made up for the supposed middle-aged man he was talking to. “Wife or kids? No?” Klaus scribbled some more “A girlfriend maybe?” Then, quieter, “A boyfriend?” The wall stayed silent. Klaus sighed and decided to bullshit his way through the rest of the default questions his father always gave him.

So far, Sir Reginald either hadn’t realized what he was doing or he simply didn’t care. At least that was what Klaus thought. In hindsight, he should have been prepared to what was to come.

“Number Four” Reginald Hargreeves called from where he stood behind Klaus, staring down at the boy. Klaus turned to look at him and, when they were both facing each other, Sir Reginald snatched the small notepad Klaus had in his hands. “Tell me” He began, looking down at the random notes Klaus had written. “What color is his shirt?”

As someone who saw random dead people most of the time, Klaus had gotten pretty used to feeling chills climbing up his spine. However, none of those times compared to that moment. Klaus was sure his blood had literally been drained from his face.

“What?” He asked, eyes wide.

“I asked, Number Four” Father took a step forward “What color is the man’s shirt?”

Klaus’ mind went on a thousand miles per hour on those two seconds of eye contact, trying desperately to remember what he had put down on the notepad. It could’ve been any color, for god’s sake! Should he guess?

“White” Klaus tried.

Sir Reginald sighed, Klaus could already see the disappointment in his eyes, in the way his shoulders slumped, and Number Four knew he was wrong. And being wrong, on that case scenario, was being utterly screwed.

“Do you think I am stupid, Number Four?” He asked and he sounded so calm. It made Klaus so scared.

“No, Father.” He blurted out, hands shaking. “Just don’t send me back. Please don’t send me back” Klaus begged. He wouldn’t handle it, he knew he wouldn’t. Klaus’ hands weren’t the only thing shaking anymore: his legs were soon to follow suit. He could feel himself starting to hyperventilate, his eyes water. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.  _Don’t send me back_ ”

Father seemed to consider it  and Klaus put all the effort he could muster into not breaking down at that moment. Crying wouldn’t bring him pity, it would only bring him pain.

“Are there any real dead here?” His Father asked him after a few agonizing seconds.

Klaus’ eyes moved to the lonely figure he had seen earlier, who was now inspecting the wall full of knife holes from some of Diego’s training. He briefly considered lying,but gave up on it soon enough. Klaus  _really_  didn’t want to go back to the mausoleum again.

“Yes” He answered honestly.

“Go to them” Father instructed.

Klaus did as he was told. He took eleven painful steps towards the figure, Father right behind him, and watched almost in slow motion as the man turned to him almost immediately, looking directly into his eyes.

“You can see me?” The ghost asked and moving his mouth made blood fall out of it and splatter on the floor below them. It would dissipate soon, those type of things didn’t last very long when separated from their owners, but it still made Klaus stare at the spot.

“Talk to them” Father instructed.

“Yes” Klaus answered the ghost man “I can see you.”

“You-” The man’s eyes widened before he cracked up, his hysterical laughter ringing loud on Klaus’ ears. “You can see me!” The man screamed. “You can see me!”

“Please don’t scream” Klaus asked. The ghost didn’t seem to listen.

“You can actually see me! You can see me!” He danced around, splattering blood everywhere every time he moved. He turned to Klaus, getting uncomfortably close to the boy’s face. The man’s moth was filling up with blood and it streamed down his chin He instinctively took a step back. “That means you can help me right? You can help me.”

“I-I d-don’t-” Klaus stuttered, a fine Diego cosplay right there. He couldn’t tear his eyes away from the man’s mouth: full of so much blood it was overflowing. It was disgusting. “I don’t know” He managed to spit out.

The man’s face, before so excited, turned angry in matter of seconds.

“Of course you can help me!” He shouted loud enough to make Klau’s head hurt. “You can see me! You see me you help me!” He tried to grab Klaus’ shoulders, only for his hands to go straight through. Even without an actual touch, Klaus felt the spot growing cold. “You have to help me!”

“What- what d-do you need help-p with?” Klaus asked slowly.

“Send me to heaven!” The man screamed “I don’t want to be stuck anymore! I want to go! Make me go!”

“I d-don’t know how!” Klaus screamed back.

“Then find a way!” The man screamed. “Find a way! You have to! You see me you help me, you have to find a way!”

Klaus took another step backwards. The ghost followed, his face so close than when the blood fell out his mouth it passed straight through Klaus’ body.

“Don’t you fucking dare run away!” The ghost scream “You will help me! You WILL help me!”

“Stop yelling!” Klaus pleaded. Just like in the mausoleum, the ghost didn’t listen.

“Help me!” He screamed “Help me! Help me! Help me! Help me! Help me! Help! Help! HELP!”

Klaus closed his eyes and covered his ears with his hands, falling on the ground knees first and with a sob stuck on his throat. The ghost got closer, screaming directly on his ear, his incessant pleads for help echoing inside his skull.

“Stop screaming!” Klaus pleaded, eyes firmly shut and nails digging on his scalp “Stop screaming!” The man didn’t stop. If anything, he got louder, more frantic. “Please” He pleaded, to no avail.

Klaus began wondering if he would be stuck like that forever, the thought immediately sending him into a panic, as if he wasn’t hyperventilating enough. His nails dug deeper, and his hands burned, almost as if surrounded by actual fire. The man continued and Klaus felt something deep inside him burn as much as his hands

“STOP SCREAMING!” He yelled and, as if by magic, the noise stopped.

Klaus opened his eyes slowly, a few stray tears falling out of them. He was still out of breath and everything still hurt, but the ghost seemed to be gone. He blinked and looked up. Seven pairs of eyes stared back at him. Ignoring his siblings’ stares, Klaus found the one that belonged to his Father.

For what seemed the first time, Reginald’s eyes didn’t carry a hint of the disappointment they usually did when it was Klaus he was looking at.

“Get up, Number Four” He told him.

Klaus’ legs shook and he was scared he would fall again, but he did as he was told. Falling would be nothing compared to whatever punishment his Father could give him. If he didn’t think he could handle the mausoleum before, now it was an impossible feat.

Klaus got up and stood there, under the gaze of his siblings and Father, looking down at his feet because looking up could mean seeing another one of  _them_.

“Step ahead, Number Four” Father commanded.

Once more, Klaus did as he was told. His siblings may think of him as a rebel, as someone who enjoyed purposely going against their Father’s wishes, but Klaus knew they were wrong. He hated it. Absolutely hated it. The feeling of pure fear than ran down his spine every time he couldn’t predict his Father’s next action. The suspense made him want to puke. He fucking hated it. Reginald had never resorted to physical aggression, but Klaus wouldn’t put it past him.

That’s why, when he first felt the touch, his first instinct was to flinch. Then, when that same touch didn’t cause him any pain, his brain decided to work again.

It was a hug.

Sir Reginald Hargreeves, his Father, was hugging him.

He was  _hugging him._

 The feeling was…weirdly good. Klaus had been hugged before, he and Ben traded hugs a lot of times, but his Father’s was somehow different. Sir Reginald didn’t hug with much emotion, but it still conveyed a sense of safety and warmth that Klaus longed for. Impressively, it was a  _good_  hug. Klaus inhaled sharply and then the eight or something seconds were over. Reginald’s arms left as suddenly as they came, and Klaus was left to confusedly stare up at his Father, the ghost of the touch still on his body.

“You have finally unlocked more of your potential, Number Four” Reginald Hargreeves told him in a tone of voice he had never used with Klaus before “And I’m proud of you”

And that could have been it. That could have been the moment in which Klaus’ life would finally start going right. That could have been where everything changed.

It could have been the best, if only Sir Reginald Hargreeves wasn’t the worst.

“We’ll repeat this training session tomorrow” The man told him dismissively, as if Klaus hadn’t just had a full panic attack right them and there.

Everything cracked.

“ _No_ ” The word left his mouth before Klaus’ mind caught up with it.

Father blinked at him.

“Excuse me?” He raised an eyebrow.

It was another chance, what was Father was giving him, Klaus knew. Another chance to change his situation forever, to be hugged, to be praised. Another chance to finally have the possibility of being loved like the rest of his siblings.

 _But if love hurts like that,_  Klaus thought to himself,  _I don’t want it._

“I said no” Klaus told his father firmly. It was ironic, how he could feel at so strong at the same time he felt so weak. “I’m not doing that ever again”

His father frowned.

“Klaus-” One of his siblings, probably Vanya, started, but was harshly cut.

“Go to your room, Number Four” His father told him with a snarl. “I’ll deal with you later”

Dealing with him, as it turned out, meant throwing him into the mausoleum again (Klaus would complain it was getting old if the tactic wasn’t so goddamn effective).

It could have been days, the time he spent there, for all Klaus knew. At one point, he was convinced he was also dead. Just one more spirit pleading for help that would never come. Just one more corpse on the cemetery. Just another face to be forgotten.

Pogo was the one who freed Klaus that time, his monkey features accentuating his worried lines. It was almost funny, seeing him so worried, and Klaus would probably have laughed if he still felt like there was a voice in him.

Pogo walked him to the car in silence, the screams being left behind and, once in the car, Klaus let himself cry. He didn’t exactly know why, he had surely cried enough on the however many hours he had passed locked behind a stone door, but the tears kept coming and he kept letting them go.

“I want to die” He whispered to Pogo, not really thinking about it.

Pogo took a deep, shaky breath.

“Be strong, Master Klaus” Was all he told him “Let’s get you to bed”

Stairs were still a bitch, just like the last time he and Pogo had been in that situation, but differently from that time before, sleep didn’t come to rescue Klaus from his own head as quickly as he wanted it to. Instead, Klaus was left to stare at his ceiling and sniff.

“Klaus?” A voice, not louder than a whisper, called him from his left.

 _If it was a spirit,_ he reasoned,  _it would have shouted._

Klaus turned his head to the source and was able to see the small silhouette of Ben by his door. His brother didn’t wait for an invitation, coming in as soon as he could confirm Klaus was truly awake and closing the door behind him. Judging by Ben’s pajamas, it was any time between 10pm and 7am and Klaus didn’t know if he felt relieved by that or not.

“Can I sit with you?” Ben asked and Klaus nodded almost instantly.

Ben climbed up his bed, gently moving Klaus a bit to the side so he could properly fit. Ben sat with his back pressed against the wall, looking down at Klaus with pity in his eyes.

“How long was I gone?” Klaus rasped out, voice still hoarse from screaming.

“Almost two full days” Ben answered honestly. Then, grabbing a bag Klaus hadn’t realized was there before, Ben took out a small water bottle. “I brought you water”

Klaus accepted it gratefully, sitting up to properly drink it. It burnt his throat, but it was a good burn. When he finished, he turned to see Ben peeling an apple with one of Diego’s knifes.

“I didn’t steal it.” Ben said “I asked”

“But where’s the fun in that” Klaus joked, even though he wasn’t really feeling like joking that moment.

Ben huffed and with the apple properly peeled, started cutting it in small pieces to give Klaus. Again, he accepted it all gratefully, if not a bit desperately.

“I’m sorry it’s not much” Ben told him when the apple was finished “Anything else and Father would have realized it was gone.”

Klaus just hummed and let his head fall back into the pillow. Ben stayed sitting and let one of his hands go towards Klaus’ curls. His hair was absolutely disgusting, Klaus could tell, but it didn’t stop Ben from running his fingers through it.

It was calming. Relaxing.  _Good._ By all means, Klaus should have been sleeping profoundly long before.

But there was something eating him up.

“What happened in the training room?” He asked “What did I do?”

Ben’s fingers stopped for a moment and Klaus was suddenly scared. Then, Ben took a deep breath and went back to it.

“I was having a break from training when I heard you scream. ” Ben told him  “You’re never really vocal during training sessions so I got worried and decided to go to you guys room.” Another deep breath. “I opened the door and the first thing I see is you on the ground, screaming and crying, with Father a few feet away and watching everything. I think the other’s were pretending no to pay attention but then it kinda became impossible  _not_  to pay attention” Ben turned to Klaus  “The lights all flickered and then you screamed really loud and this…this  _figure_  appears, a man I think, and he was screaming for help and bleeding everywhere and then he-” Ben gulped “He kind of disintegrated? I don’t how to explain it he just started to stop existing.” Klaus felt a shiver through Ben’s hand. “It was scary”

Klaus could bet.

“I’m sorry” He managed to whisper.

Ben gave him a light slap on the head.

“Don’t be silly, Klaus” He told his brother.

“I’m always silly though” Klaus answered and Ben chuckled.

“That you are” He said fondly. Then his eyes widened a bit “Tell me, did you end up making your map?”

Klaus smiled.

“Yeah” He breathed out. “I’m actually very proud of it”

The map Ben talked about was something Klaus had managed to make after a long time of hard work, crafted to perfection on the messy notebook he had stolen from Vanya. It had taken him months for him to really get the hang of the streets, as he and his siblings only ever got out of the house on missions, but he had managed, he knew he had.

“Where is it?” Ben asked curiously.

“Hidden under the mattress” Klaus told him.

Ben hummed.

“You think we can get to that donut shop using it?” He asked. Klaus blinked.

“Yeah” He said confidently. “But father would never take us there.”

“It’s traveling season again though” Ben said.

The first few days of the year were marked by their father’s busy schedule, often including a one to two-day trip to the other side of the country. During that time, the Hargreeves children were left to their own devices most of the time. Pogo took his time analyzing father’s extent research of something while Mother made herself busy with cleaning every inch of the rooms she didn’t usually got access to. They both had their own thing going on, that’s what Klaus meant to imply, so that made their usually strict supervision very loose

“Do you want to sneak out?” Klaus asked impressed.

“Maybe” Ben answered, a mischievous smile on his face “But we’ll talk more about it later. Right now, you should really sleep”

He was right. Ben’s fingers were still dancing through Klaus’ hair and he could feel his eyelids finally getting heavy.

“Can you stay?” Klaus whispered.

He was ready for a no, used to how Ben would never purposely do anything against father’s orders. Klaus was ready for abandonment, as he usually was.

Ben, however, decided to surprise him a lot that day.

“Yeah” He whispered back. “I can do that.”

That night, sleep came like a light blanket, wrapped gently over Klaus as a promise to make him warm enough through the night. Klaus knew it wouldn’t be easy, maybe it would even be harder than it already was, but at that moment, with Ben’s gentle fingers running through his shitty hair he felt like he could handle whatever bullshit his father threw at him.

(He dreamt of clear skies and a gentle breeze, a nice contrast to his usual nightmares of screaming corpses)

On the next morning, Klaus was wakened not by his Mother’s gentle voice but by an out of tune ghost. He blinked a few times, his sleep dazed mind trying to make sense of the weird sound echoing through the academy’s walls. That wasn’t that unusual of a thing, ghosts singing loudly to themselves. They thought no one could hear it, so why would they bother?

Klaus groaned, pressing his face against his pillow.  _La vie en rose_  was officially ruined forever. He groaned again and waited, wishing the fricking ghost would just pass already.

“Isn’t it too early for you to start complaining?” Came Ben’s sleepy voice, followed by a yawn.

Klaus blinked, suddenly reminded of his brother’s presence. Ben's eyes were still closed, his face still squished against the pillow. Klaus honestly hadn’t imagined Ben would really stay the night, so the sight was a surprise. A very pleasant one.

“It’s never too early to say what’s wrong with the world” Klaus argued, stifling a yawn. The singing ghost was finally far enough not to be heard “What time is it anyway?”

Ben blinked his eyes open and turned his head to Klaus’ bedside table.

“Nine in the morning” He answered.

Klaus's eyes widened. 

“It really is traveling season again, huh?”  He said with a grin.

Ben smiled and sat up, stretching. Klaus followed suit, knowing very well he wouldn’t go back to sleep anymore. Ben’s bed hair was totally crazy, and Klaus couldn’t help but laugh a bit at the sight.

“Nice hair, princess” He teased. Ben punched him in the arm.

The two boys stayed silent for a bit, just enjoying each other’s company. Klaus sighed contently. At last, the universe had decided to help him out a bit. A whole day without Reginald Hargreeves.

Then, a thought popped in Klaus' head.

“Do you really want to go get those doughnuts it?” Klaus asked. It was a big deal, leaving the house without their Father to do something that was not a mission. It would be a first, so Klaus could understand how apprehensive his brother seemed. He himself felt quite nervous, even though he was confident of his map skills.  “It’s ok if you don’t want to” He added.

Ben sighed.

“I do want to. It’s just-”He trailed off.

“We can call Diego too” Klaus offered. He wasn’t quite sure on where Number Two stood regarding the whole training room fiasco, but he was willing to bet Diego wouldn’t care that much.

“It really has been long since we last went out together, huh?” Ben commented. Klaus nodded, nostalgia in his eyes. “Let’s ask him”

They found Diego in the kitchen with Five by his side. They were both chatting about something or other while eating some cereal but stopped when they spotted the other two. Well, when they spotted Klaus.

“Morning ” Klaus tried. They just stared at him. “I don’t plan on exploding anything”

Five snorted. Diego sighed.

“We have a proposition to make” Ben cut it. He opened his mouth, then seemed to realize Five was also there and gave Klaus a side glance. Klaus nodded for him to continue. “You guys remember that doughnut shop not that far from here?” They nodded. “We want to go there.”

Diego’s eyes widened almost comically, but Five only furrowed his brow. Klaus looked at the both of them expectantly.

“I could use a cup of coffee” Five finally said as he made eye contact with Klaus’ hopeful stare. “We shall go to this place you mentioned”

Klaus smiled.

“We should ask the others too” Diego suggested “So we can all go together”

Ben looked at Klaus and they silently exchanged glances for a bit. Klaus was a bit worried, especially because of Luther, but Ben was quite good at convincing him it would be a good idea for them all to go.

 _We’re a family,_ his eyes seemed to say,  _Let’s act like one._

“Ok” Klaus finally relented. “Let’s call the others”

 They ended uo going together and Klaus wasn’t going to tell a soul (living or dead) how happy that made him feel (It felt good, knowing his siblings didn’t hate him like his father did). Vanya and Luther were the most difficult to convince, but with a nice incentive from both Five and Allison and a promise of paying for everyone’s snacks from Klaus, they were all ready to go.

Their first step into the real world without daddy dearest to put them in his leashes.

It felt  _liberating._

“This way!” Klaus commanded happily, his carefully drawn map on his hands. Five had scoffed at the sight, but Klaus didn’t mind, not really. Nothing could sour up his mood. Not that day.

According to his calculations, it would be a ten-minute walk at best and a twenty-minute one at worst. Currently, they were more on the twenty-minute side, because Luther couldn’t stop looking back to where they came and mumbling something about ‘loosing Father’s trust’ or whatever

“Awn, don’t worry too much, Spaceyboy” Klaus gently poked Luther’s cheek. “Our father is not here, won’t be for a least two more days! I’m sure Diego can convince Mother not to tell him and, uh, Vanya can deal with Pogo.” He turned to the mentioned siblings “Yeah?”

Vanya seemed uncomfortable, as if she, too, was now regretting her decision to come .Diego, bless his soul, just promptly nodded.

“Look at that commitment!” Klaus raised his eyebrows at his sister, dramatically gesturing towards Diego. He kept the movements until Vanya sighed in defeat.

“I’ll see what I can do” She said.

“Thank you, my beloved siblings.” Klaus turned back to Luther “See, Spaceyboy? Nothing to worry about.”

“Don’t call me that” Luther grumbled, but he did seem more relaxed. Mission accomplished, Klaus guessed.

“Let’s keep going then!” He told them with enthusiasm. “Just a few more minutes”

The weather was uncomfortably cold, even with all the layers of clothing they had put on, but Klaus had immediately learnt to appreciate it. Anything that wasn’t the damned house ( ~~or the mausoleum~~ ) worked for him, no matter how cold.

“Where are we now?” Ben asked curiously over his shoulder, eyeing the map on Klaus’ hands.

“Here” Klaus told him with a smile. He pointed his finger at the area close to one of the many red fire hydrants. This one had a flower on top of it, to differentiate from the other fire hydrants that were also on their way. “The hydrant has this flower sticker on the top. I’ll show you when we pass it. I drew it so I know when to turn left”

“Left?” Ben frowned. “The doughnut shop is this building with the coffee on top, right?” Klaus hummed in agreement. “So, wouldn’t it be better if we turned right then? To get there quicker?”

 _Ah_ , Klaus sighed internally. He should have anticipated the question.

“We would cross an alley if we turned right.” He explained, voice low. “A bad alley. I’ve seen a couple of  _them_ when we passed by a few times. It’s- well. Let’s just say it isn’t pretty”

At the end of his confession, Klaus felt the familiar burn of shame on the back of his neck for a few moments before reminding himself this was Ben he was talking to, not his father. There was no need to feel ashamed with Ben.

“Oh. Alright” Ben said simply and looked around for a bit until he spotted the red fire hydrant standing out in the snowy scenery. “Left then?” He asked with a smile.

Klaus returned it. No longer than a few minutes after, Klaus could see their destination.

“There!” Klaus yelled, pointing his gloved finger to the neon sign.

“Oh, thank God” Klaus heard Diego mutter.

The doughnut shop was completely empty, save from a lady behind the counter. When they approached her, she smiled at them.  _Agnes_ , her nametag read.

“Well, hello there” Agnes said cheerfully. Her eyes danced through the seven flushed faces in front of her before stopping on the door through which they had just came in, as if expecting someone else to enter. A few seconds passed. The silence became a bit awkward, Klaus noted, confused on why the hell the woman kept staring at the door. Agnes frowned. “Aren’t your parents coming in?”

Oh. Now it made sense.

“Our father isn’t with us today” Klaus told her, bring her attention back to them. He gave her a big smile. “But don’t worry, we have money and everything.”

Agnes cheerful expression turned into a worried one pretty quickly and Klaus could feel the back of neck starting to sweat. There was no way the universe hated him so much that it would ruin the only chance he had to show his siblings he wasn’t a total fuck up.

“How old are you bunch?” She asked softly, but with her forehead still ceased in concern.

“Fourteen” Came the chorus of seven voices.

Agnes eyes widened a bit. Klaus cursed inwardly.

“We just want some hot cocoas and a couple of doughnuts, yeah?” He took a step forward and placed a couple of  bills on the counter. He briefly caught the sigh of Five and added “And a large coffee. Black.”

Agnes eyed him up and down, then stared at the money in front of her. She carefully took the bills and put it in her apron pocket. Although a bit tense, the smile returned to her face. She motioned to the empty tables.

“You kids can go take a sit.” She told them “I’ll prepare the drinks while you choose your doughnuts”

And that was how Klaus ended up sitting between Diego and Ben, enthusiastically scanning the doughnut menu in front of him.

“I’m thinking pink” Klaus told Ben.

“That’s not a flavor, Klaus” His brother told him, an easy smile hanging on his lips.

It was a good sight, seeing Ben relaxed. It was also a rare one. Klaus took pride on being probably the only person to have ever seen a truly chill Ben. (It had happened when they were around ten and a half years old. Sir Reginald had gone on a business trip to the UK, a trip he deemed too important for stupid ten-and-a-half year olds. Ben had sneaked in Klaus’ bedroom and they had spent the afternoon listening to some tapes Klaus had stolen from Luther, eating some chocolate Klaus had stolen from Vanya and making up some stupid stories on the notebooks Mother had gifted Klaus earlier that year. Klaus vividly remembered Ben’s laugh, how it was so loud and full of live, so different from the person Ben seemed to be most of the time. That had been a good day.)

“I’ll just get whatever has chocolate on it” Vanya decided, talking more to herself than to anyone else. “Maybe some sprinkles?”

“I’ve never had sprinkles” Allison chimed in with a shrug “I wouldn’t know”

“What do you think they taste like?” Luther mused.

“Like little rocks, I bet” Five answered.

“You think sprinkles taste like rocks?” Diego questioned, slightly horrified. Klaus laughed at his disgusted expression.

“You kids ready to place your orders?" Agnes asked as she approached their table, effectively cutting out whatever other guesses regarding spinkles. She gently taped her pen on the little notepad in her hand." The hot cocoas will be ready in a bit”

Allison opened her mouth to place his order, but Diego talked before she could. 

“What do sprinkles taste like, ma’am?” Diego asked her. All seven heads turned to hear her answer.

“Oh” Agnes exclaimed, overwhelmed by the sudden attention. “I, uh, I’d say sugar? Like, crunchy sugar? It’s not a very strong taste or anything.” They all hummed, as if they had been presented with some groundbreaking information, and if Agnes wasn’t finding that whole situation weird before, she truly was double checking now. “…Can I get your orders, then?”

“Oh, yeah!” Allison spoke up. “I’ll have a raspberry jelly, please!”

“Make that two” Luther added, dropping his menu on the table with a defeated sigh.

“I want one chocolate frosted, please” Vanya asked “With sprinkles!”

“Yeah, me too” Diego said “Let’s see if sprinkles are all that good.”

“Let’s do it then” Five agreed “Another chocolate frosted with sprinkles!”

“I just want whatever one has pink on top. Bonus points if it has sprinkles too!” Klaus said with a laugh. He turned to the brother on his right. “Ben?’

“I’ll just get a glazed one, please” Ben said sweetly and smiled to Agnes, ever the polite little shit.

“I’ll be back in a minute” Agnes told them. She smiled, though it was clearly directly more at Ben.

Sprinkles, it turned out, didn’t really taste of anything, but they were good enough to deserve being asked for again. And again. And once more. In the end, they all had had enough doughnuts to choose their favorite flavors.

“God” Luther complained loudly “I think I’m gonna puke”

“Just don’t do it on me” Allison groaned back. Luther seemed personally offended she would even hint at the possibility.

“I would  _never_ ” He told her, making Allison laugh.

“Dude, how many doughnuts have we eaten?” Diego asked no one in particular. “This all seems like a bad idea all of the sudden”

“Well, too late now” Five chimed in “But I see your point”

“At least we had fun” Klaus tried. He gulped, then added “We had fun, right?”

A moment of silence.

“Yeah, Klaus” Ben was the first to answer, discreetly eyeing his other siblings “We had fun”

“Oh yeah” Vanya agreed.

“We sure did, bro” Diego added.

“Although I do not condone this type of behavior” Luther began “And I don’t think I’ll approve this type of thing again, even if Father is, as he is now, out of town and we are at the hands of-”

“For fucks sake Luther” Five cut him off “Just admit you had fun! No need to make a fricking speech to go along with it.”

They all shared a chuckle at Five’s outburst. Even Allison snickered from her place next to Luther. Number One seemed embarrassed for a second, but then Allison’s hand found his under the table.

“We had a lot of fun” She said, giving him a side smile.

“Ok, sure” Luther agreed. “I guess we did.”

“We should really go back now, though” Vanya told them all, eyes fixed on the watch on her wrist (A gift from her Father for the first time she managed to lift 900 pounds with her powers). She turned to Agnes, who was now all the way back to behind the counter. “Thank you for the doughnuts!”

The chorus of thank you’s was immediate, as was the children’s departure from the doughnut shop, leaving Agnes with at least fifty dollars as a tip and a fond smile on her face.  

Fortunately, neither Mother nor Pogo needed too much convincing for their silence (Klaus didn’t think they would ever admit it, but he had the feeling both of them liked it when he and his siblings acted their age for once.), so, when Sir Reginald arrived from his three day trip, there were no words of doughnuts and hot cocoas.

Unfortunately, however, Sir Reginald’s return also meant the return of missions which, for Klaus, meant the return of failures, screams and sighs of disappointment. Now more than ever.

He sometimes questioned why he still went when called for a mission if he knew it wouldn’t bring him anything good. That doubt plagued Klaus’ mind every time he got up and ready for another mission and stayed with him during all of it.

He still went though. For whatever reason he couldn’t explain yet.

They were huddled up in the car at the moment, staring at their Father. Most of them waiting for instructions. Some of them waiting to just go back home.

“The Capitol West Bank has a situation again” The old man told them in his signature empty voice.

Not a real instruction, one could argue. For Luther, though, it was enough.

“We’ll use the same strategy from last time as base and just improve some points of it so we’ll all attack at the same time, from different points.” Number One commanded, his eyes always ending up on his Father after each sentence was spoken, waiting for some sort of approval or denial that would not be given until the end of the mission “Number Five, do you think you’ll be able to put Three and Two inside?”

“Affirmative” Number Five answered. Number One nodded.

“I, Seven and Six will go up the roof. I’ll jump in first and then Seven will lower both her and Six inside. Does everyone understand your part?”

A chorus of affirmative answers. Then Luther turned to Klaus. He at least had the decency of looking uncomfortable.

“Four-”

“Lookout.” Klaus cut him out. He tried not to let his emotions slip though his voice. “I know”

Number One nodded.

“Good”

In all honesty, Klaus shouldn’t have been surprised. They went out for doughnuts one time, it wasn’t like things were suddenly going to change. He was still a liability (It was expected, if anything, that he would be thrown into the sidelines right under his father’s nose just to have the old man bitch about it to him as soon as the mission was over.). Sure, it wasn’t like Klaus actively wanted to risk his life and stuff but it would’ve been  _nice_  to feel like his siblings wanted to go in with him. 

 Well whatever. 

They all exited the car together, the mass of reporters trying to get anything from them before they passed the police tapes. Klaus followed Six, Seven and One to the side of the building until they were going up the roof. Ben stared at him with a painful look before he went, but didn’t say anything. He didn’t need to anyway, Klaus got the sentiment.

When his siblings were gone, Klaus slid down to the floor with an undignified whine. What was he even supposed to look out for? And what should he do if he saw anything? Run inside screaming? He should have just stayed home really. It would have been better for everyone involved. (Not that father worried about what was best for them)

Sighing to himself, Klaus began to play with the small rocks around him, stacking them up or throwing them a few feet away. He wasn’t even paying that much attention to what he was doing, not even looking up as he threw the rocks forward, until he heard a gasp.

“Could’ve hit me!” A woman’s voice exclaimed.

Klaus was quick to shoot his head up, staring at the figure in front of him with wild apologetic eyes.

“I’m so sor-” He began, but didn’t finish.

The woman in front of him turned and Klaus could see she was missing a chunk of the left side of her head.

_Dead._

“You can see me?” The woman asked incredulously.

“No” Klaus answered, because he was stupid.

The woman chuckled.

“How is that possible?” She wondered. Klaus pondered just ignoring her as he did with many other spirits, but he had to give a few points to her for the fact she wasn’t screaming.

“I don’t know” He answered honestly “I was just born this way”

“What a weird way to be born” The woman commented just as honestly. She got closer to Klaus and the kind smile on her face was almost enough to make him forget the fact that her fricking head was split in half. “What are you doing here, kid?”

Klaus pointed at the bank with his head. Screams could be heard inside, as well as gunshots.

“My siblings are stopping a bank robbery” He told her “I’m not good enough to be in there so I’m out here talking to you”

“I’m glad you’re not in.” The woman frowned “It seems dangerous in there”

“Nothing they can’t handle” Klaus assured.

And then the universe decided it wanted a badge for best comedic timing or something because just as the words left his mouth, the whole side of the building, the side he had been leaning on, exploded. Klaus just heard a scream he wasn’t sure if was his own before everything went black.

When he opened his eyes again, he was greeted by his boring bedroom ceiling and a lot of pain. Klaus instantly groaned, resisting the urge to curl up and probably make whatever was wrong with him worse by moving. He closed his eyes tightly, trying to even out his breath.

“He’s awake” Came the voice of on of his siblings. He couldn’t figure out who it was, everything sounded weird.

Klaus blinked, the pain made it impossible to breathe. He blinked again and saw his Mother’s smiling face hovering above him. She was holding something in her hand.

“Hello, sweetheart” She greeted gently “How are you feeling?”

“Hurts” Klaus whimpered.

His Mother nodded, understanding, and then moved her hands to take his arm. The thing in her hand turned out to be a needle and Klaus gasped as he felt the whatever was inside it enter his bloodstream.

“You’ll feel better” Mother whispered before her gentle face was replaced by the scowling one of Sir Reginald.

“You have disappointed me, Number Four” He said with that cold voice of his. Ha. As if that was a surprise in any way.

Klaus could have answered, but whatever Mother gave him decided to take effect at that moment and his eyes fluttered shut to guide him into a dreamless slumber.

The next time Klaus woke up, it was to fingers gently running through his hair. He was immediately transported to the night Ben had visited him, the day before the doughnut shop escapade. The memory brought a smile to his face and he let out a content sigh.

“You awake, Klaus?” Came Ben’s gentle voice.

Klaus hummed affirmatively.

“Do you feel any pain?”

Klaus hummed negatively. He heard something being placed on his bedside table, something that sounded weirdly like a rattle.

“Mother gave me some pills to give you.” Ben explained “They’ll help you with pain if you need them to”

Klaus just hummed. Ben chuckled and kept playing with Klaus’ curls.

“You broke your leg pretty badly” Ben told him “But aside from that and some minor bruising, you came out of that thing pretty much unscathed somehow. A true miracle, really”

“You hur’?” Klaus slurred out, his voice raw.

“Nah” Ben answered “Vanya managed to protect us at the last second. She couldn’t reach you, though”

Suddenly, something wet hit Klaus’ cheek. He didn’t have to open his eyes to know what it was. Ben sniffed.

“I’m so sorry, Klaus” He said, then a sob. “I’m sorry I couldn’t protect you”

“Nuh your faul” Klaus babbled, and Ben sniffed again.

“I don’t want to fear for you life ever again” Ben said.

“You wun” Klaus promised.

Ben’s hand shook as he cried, but he didn’t stop caressing Klaus’ hair.

 “I’m so tired of this Klaus” Ben whispered to him like a secret “I’m so tired”

Klaus understood. He tried mumbling some comforting words, but his brain was sluggish. He fell back asleep, for what seemed to be the millionth time, and when he woke up again he was alone, but he was not in pain.

Klaus blinked a few times and rubbed his eyes. His left leg felt heavy, and Klaus moved his covers to reveal a cast on it. Huh. Ben did say he had broken his leg. Oh well.

Klaus stretched and yawned, looking around. His clock told him it was almost seven, which meant Grace would probably come wake him and his siblings soon. Next to the clock, there was a glass of water and a small orange medicine bottle full of pills.

 _For pain_ , Ben had said. Well, he wasn’t feeling any pain at that moment, Klaus stated as he drank the water.

There was also a pair of crutches on the room, the same ones Luther had used when he broke his own leg during training (Klaus knew they were the same ones because of dark red ribbon tied to it. Allison had done that, all that time ago). The boy briefly wondered if Reginald would have even bothered to give him a pair if he didn’t already have one around. Klaus didn’t want to find out.

“Good morning, darling!”  Mother told him, effectively breaking him out of his thoughts. She had a big smile on her face and a bigger plastic bag in her hands. “I brought this for you” She offered him the bag “I thought you might want to take a shower before coming down to eat.”

Klaus smiled.

“Thanks, Mother” He told her. “Can you close the door when you leave?”

Mother smiled brighter and nodded, leaving the room right then and closing the door behind her. The loud click echoed through the walls. Klaus sighed. He stared at the plastic bag and at the crutches with a frown. That would be weird.

“I can do it” He told himself.

He actually could and relief washed over him just like the hot water coming from the shower. It wasn’t a long shower, not even close to how long Klaus wanted it to be, but it was still good. It relaxed his muscles, cleaned away the sweat, helped him breathe.

When Klaus got out, he considered putting one of Allison’s skirts because of the thickness of the cast but ended up deciding against it. (His father was already mad enough.) He wore one of his few loose pants instead.

Klaus turned to his door, ready to go eat breakfast, when a small orange object caught his eyes: the pain pills his Mother had gotten him. He eyed the bottle for a second before snatching it from the bedside table and putting it in his jacket’s pocket.

You never know.

Klaus got out of his room to find Ben waiting outside his door. His brother turned to him and smiled.

“Let’s go?” He asked. Klaus’ stomach growled as an answer.

Their way to the kitchen was made in a slower pace than usual (Stairs were a bitch. Had Klaus said that already?), but they managed. Klaus dropped in his seat beside Ben as his brother out the crutches away.

“You doing good, Klaus?” Diego asked him.

Klaus nodded.

“All fine here”

Even though they didn’t directly ask, Klaus felt his other siblings’ eyes on him as he answered Diego’s question. It made him feel good for a moment, knowing they cared.

“Here you go!” Grace told them all happily, placing perfectly made waffles on the table.

Klaus ate like a starved man (which maybe was a good description of what he really was) and by the end of it he felt full for the first time in months.

“Thanks for the food, Mother” Diego spoke as he got up from the table. It was almost eight and training would begin soon.

Klaus sighed.  Ben helped him with the crutches, and they followed their siblings to where Reginald was sure to be waiting. Klaus didn’t want to think too much about it. About the man. The last time he had seen him Klaus had been delirious with pain as Sir Reginald told him of his disappointment.

Before they entered the room, Ben quickly squeezed his hand.

It was standard protocol to arrive at the training room and walk towards where they usually worked, so, as soon as they stepped inside, the children disbanded and went to their training areas. Reginald stood in the middle, watching with judgmental eyes. He waited until the door to Ben’s special room was once again closed to give his command.

“Begin” He said simply, and the children obeyed.

Well, most of them did.

There truly were no ghosts at the training room at that moment and Klaus was not about to walk around the house looking for one, so he just stood there next to his notepad, pretending to be looking around. He would probably have to pretend to see something or whatever soon. It would be hard, considering Reginald had caught him up on his lies before but what the hell he could do?

“Number Four” Reginald called. “Your training is not here today”

Klaus knew what he meant. He knew damn well what he meant. Sick old man with his sadistic tendencies that didn’t fail to make Klaus’ life utterly miserable. It made the boy so angry, so filled with rage. If he could, he would have screamed, fought, done anything to show Reginald Hargreeves what Klaus truly thought of him.

Klaus couldn’t though.

He couldn’t do anything but accept.

(Because trying something would make it worse and, now that Reginald was properly motivated, Klaus really didn’t want to know how far the man could go)

So, he just nodded and followed his father to the car. He just stayed silent as Pogo drove the way he knew so well by now. He just walked inside the prison made of stones, filled with the screaming lost souls.

Klaus just accepted the symphony of chaos that was the place, the ghostly blood that poured over him, the horrific sights that got so close to his face.

The boy laid down and his bottle of pills rolled out of his jacket pocket. He stared at it in the very dim light the floating bodies provided him. Could they heal the type of pain he was feeling? Only one way to find out.

Klaus opened the bottle, closed his eyes and popped a pill into his mouth. Then another. Then he waited.

He waited and waited and then-

Then the noise started to  _fade._

Klaus gasped, eyes flying open. The ghostly figures, once so vivid, had become blurry, their screams not sounding as loud as they had moments before. Another pill found its way into his mouth. Then another. Then another. One more and the ghosts had disappeared, taking their screams with them. If they started to show up again, if he heard even the faintest sound of a scream, another pill went down. And then another.

Klaus Hargreeves was fourteen when he discovered drugs could numb his powers, and it changed  _everything._

**Author's Note:**

> Thoughts? Comments really make my day! 
> 
> (Btw this is part 1 of a series so, if you are wondering, there will be a sequel!)


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